Separator



A. H. STEBBINS SEPARATOR Filed April 25 1922 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 lNl/ENTORI A TTORNE Y Dec. 1924- 1,517,597

A. H. STEBBINS SEPARATOR.

Filed April 25 1922 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 (/N VENTOR! A TqRNEY tttl Patented Dec. 2, 1924. v

UNITED STATES ALBERT H. STEBBINS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

snrana'ron.

Application filed April 25, 1922. Serial No. 556,469.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. SrnnBINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented an Improvement in Separators, of which the following description, .in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters, on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to separators of the type in which air and the materials to be separated are delivered with a whirling motion into a container so that the heavier materials will be thrown outwardly against the walls of the container and will settle downwardly therein while the lighter materials will be conducted from the container with the air.

In a separator of this type it is desirable to provide an outer drum or casing having an inner drum mounted therein to form an annular chamber between the drums in which air bearing the materials to be separated may whirl. The air carrying the materials to be separated preferably is led into the annular chamber tangentially through a condui-t, and after passing around this chamber escapes therefrom through a second conduit.

Either suction or blast. may be utilized to impart movement to the air, and when suction is relied upon to draw the air around the annular chamber, it is necessary to provide. means for preventing air from traveling direct from the inlet conduit to the outlet conduit without passing around the annular chamber.

One important feature of the present invention, therefore, consists of means disposed across the annular chamber between the inner and outer drum so that the air that is drawn from the inlet conduit to the outlet conduit is required to travel around the annular chamber..

Another important feature of the inven tion consists 1n a plurality of separators connected in series so that the air passes successively from one separator to another.

Other features of the invention and novel combination of parts will be hereafter dc- Fig, 2 is a sectional view taken on line Y 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3,is a perspective view of one of the separators having parts broken away;

Fig. 4 isa side elevation of a modification showing a plurality of separators connected in series; and p i 1 Fig. 5 is a perspective view'of one of the separators of Fig. 4.

In some cases it may be desirable to pass the materials to be separated through only one separator constructed in accordance with. the present invention, whereas, in other cases it may be desirable to se arate the materials into a plurality of .di erent grades, in which case it is desirable to provide several separators connected in series so that the material bearing air passes successively from one separator to the other.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, four separators are shown, although the number may be varied as deemed advisable, and these separators may be similar in construction as shown, or may differ from each other in size and. in construction as desired.

Each of the separators 10 of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, has an outer drum or casing 11 and an mner drum or casing 12 mounted in tlie outer drum and supported in spaced relation to the walls thereof. The outer drum 11 may have a cone shaped lower end 13 provided with a trap 14 that is normally held closed to prevent the passage of air but is adapted to open for the discharge of materials. The up er end of the outer drum 11 may be closed by a cover plate 15 to which the inner drum 12 is secured, and the lower end of the inner drum may be closed by a cone shaped end 16.

The materials to be. separated preferably are carried into the separator by the air entering the same, and the material bearing air is delivered to the chamber 17 between the drums 11 and 12 so that it will whirl in this chamber. To this end, in the construction shown in Fi s. 1 and 2, air enters the separator tangentially through a conduit 18 and leaves the separator through a second conduit 22 havin an end near the discharge end of the conduit 18, and suction is utilized to impart movement to the air. The conduit 22 serves to exhaust air within the separator and to draw air in through the conduit 18, and it will be apparent that the air within the separator, it permitted, will take the s the space above the conduit.

more direct path from one conduit to the other without passing around the annular chamber, A wall or partition 19 is therefore provided between the walls of the drums 11 and 12 to prevent the air from passing direct from one conduit to the other. This partition extends downwardly from the conduit 18 to close the space between said walls below the conduit, and a similar wall 20 is provided above theconduit 18 to close The wall 19 may extend well into the cone 13 as at 21.

The conduit 22 may be located in various positions relative to the discharge end of 15 the conduit 18 and the arrangement should be such that the inlet conduit 18 delivers air into the chamber 17 to one side of the wall and the outlet conduit 22 removes the air from the other side of this wall. In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the conduit 22 has its intake end disposed above the discharge end of the conduit 18, whereas in Figs. 4 and 5 the reverse arrangement is shown, andnin each arrangement the conduits' 18 and 22 extend through or ali n with openings in the wall 19, 20 as will e apparent from Fig. 3.

As a result of the present construction air bearing the materials to be treated is delivered into the annular chamber 17 with a whirling movement that throws the heavier.

particles outwardly against the wall of the outer drum 11 so that these heavier particles will settle'downwardly, and as the whirling air currents approach the partition 19, 2O the whirlin through the separators by the suction fan 23.

It may be desirable to reduce the force of the air in the successive separators, and to thisend means may be provided for tapping the conduits 22 of the intermediate separators. Thisis accomplished by providing an auxiliary suction conduit 24: that communicates with the suction fan 23 and has pipes 25, 26 and 27 that tap the conduits 22 of the intermediate separators. This construction' ermits part of the air passing from the 23 without passing through the other separators and as a result the rst separator may be operated under stronger air pressure than the other separators. By the construction .shown the pressure of the air may be reduced in the order in which it enters the rst separator 10 to reach the fan successive separators and this will cause each separator to remove finer materials than the separator that precedes it. The air passing through the pipes 25, 26 and 27 may be controlled by the gates 28.

The separators 10 may be supported by a suitable frame, not shown, with the separators arranged in a row, or the separators may be grouped as found desirable, and the strength of the air in the difi'erent separators may be regulated to cause each separator to remove a diil'erent grade of material. The construction of each separator is such that air is prevented by the walls 19, 20 from passing direct from one conduit to the other .but is required to pass around the chamber 17 this imparts a whirling movement to the heavier particles which throws them out.- wardly whereupon they settle into the lower portion of the chamber 17 while the lighter particles will be carried out of the separator by the air escaping through the conduit 22.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5, four separators are shown as connected to a fan 29. The two separators 30 disposed to the right of the fan 29 are connected to the suction side of this fan and the two separators 31 shown to the left of the fan are connected to the blast side there- The separators 30 each consist of an outer drum having an inner drum 32 mounted therein, and a wall or partition 33 is provided between the inner and outer drum to prevent air from passing direct from the inlet to the outlet conduit without passing around the inner drum. The dust laden air is sucked into the first separator 30 through the conduit 34 and the air escapes from the separators through the conduits 35. The conduit 34 is positioned adjacent the cover 36'and this cover preferably has the spiral configuration shown in Fig. 5, which serves to direct the air discharged from the conduit' 34 downwardl with a whirling movement as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4. The air which has passed around the inner drum 32 will escape through the conduit .35, and the heavier particles will settle downwardly within the separator. A pipe 37 serves to by-pass part of the air around one ofthe separators 30 so that a greater volume of air may pass through one sepa-,

rator than the other.

The fine materials that are not removed by the separators 30 pass through the fan 29 and may be delivered to the separators 31 for further treatment. These separators may have inner drums 37 extending downwardly within the outer drums and the dust laden air is delivered from the fan to the first separator 31 through the conduit 38, whereupon it whirls about the drum 37 in a downward direction and escapes throu h the conduit 39 to the next separator. In t e separators 31 the wall or partition between lid the inner and outercasing is omitted, since in this construction the air is blown into the separator with suflicient force to cause it to travel around the inner drum without passing direct from one conduit to the other. Part of the air may be removed from each separator by a pipe 4'0 connected with the drum '37 to remove therefrom the air that 'enters the open lower ends of these drums. Since air is delivered to the separators 31 under pressure, the spouts 41 for discharging materials from the separators preferably are connected to closed receptacles 42 from which the air will not escape.

What is claimed is:

1. A separator comprising, in combination, an outer drum having an inner drum mounted therein and supported in spaced relation to thewalls of the outer drum to provide an annular chamber between the two drums, awall extending transversely across said annular; chamber from one drum to the other and extending lengthwise of the drums to form a partition that prevents air Within the annular chamber from traveling completely around, the same, a conduit extending tan entially into said" annular chamber and aving a discharge end extending through said partition for delivering air and the materials to be separated to the annular chamber at one side ofsaid partition, with a whirlingmovement around the chamber to the opposite side of the partition, and a second conduit for'conducting air and the lighter material from the opposite side of the partition and having an open end at the partition to receive the air within the annular chamber to conduct it through an opening in the partition and out relation to the Walls of the outer drum to provide an annular chamber between the two drums, a wall extendin transversely across said annular chamber i rom one drum to the other and extending lengthwise of the drums tr, form a partition that prevents air within the annular chamber from traveling completely around the same, a conduit extending tangentially into said annular chamber and through said partition and having an end near the partition for delivering air and the materials to be separated to the annular chamber at one side of said partition with a whirling movement around the chamber to the opposite side of the partition, and a second conduit having its end adjacent the end of the inlet conduit but upon the opposite side of said partition to remove the air and lighter materials that have passed around the annular chamber.

3. A separator comprising in combination,

an upright outer drumhaving an upright inner drum mounted therein and supported inspaced relation to the walls of the outer drum to provide an annular chamber between the drums, a wall extending transversely across the annularchamber from one drum to the other and extending longitudinally of the drums to form a partition that prevents air within the annular chamber from traveling completely around the same, a conduit for delivering air and the materials to be treated through an opening in said wall and having a discharge end near said wall from which the air and materials issue into the annular chamber with a whirling movement to cause the materials to travel. around the chamber and strike against the opposite side of said wall, and a second conduit having a mount near the partition for conducting air and the lighter material from the'opposite side of the partition through-an opening in the partition and out of the separator.

4. A separating unit comprising, in combination, a plurality of separators connected in series and each comprising an inner and an outer. drum having an annular chamber between them, a wall extending transverselyacross said annular chamber and extending longitudinally of the drums to form a partition that prevents air within the annular chamber from traveling completely around the same, conduits for delivering air and the materials to be separated through an opening in the partition of the respective separators and each havin an end that discharges into the annular c amber with a whirling movement to cause the materials to travel around the chamber and strike against the opposite side of said partition, and discharge conduits each having a month near the partition for conducting air and the lighter materials from the opposite sideof the respective partitions through an opening in the partition and leading out of one separator to the delivery conduit of the next separator to conduct the air and lighter materials from one chamber into the chamber of the next separator.

5. A separating unit comprising, in combination, a plurality of separators connected in series and each comprising an inner and an outer drum having an ahnular chamber between them, a wall extending transversely across said annular chamber and extending longitudinally of the drums to form a partition thatprevents air within the annular chamber from traveling completely around the same, conduits for delivering air and the materials to be separated through an opening in the partition of the respective separators and each having a discharge end near said wall fronr which the air and materials issue into the annular chamber with a whirling movement one chamber into the chamber of the next-1 separator, and means for reducing succes sively the strength of the air as it is delivered to the different separators.

6. A separator unit comprising, in combination, a plurality of separators connected in series'and each comprising an innerand an outer casing having an annular chamber between them, a wall extending transversely across the annular chamber and extending longitudinally of the drums to form a partition that prevents air Within the annular chamber from traveling com- .pletely around the same, delivery conduits leading into the annular chambersof the respective separators for delivering air and the materials to be treated through an opening inthe partition and each having a discharge end near the partition from which the air and materials issue into the annular chamber with a whirling movement to cause the materials to travel around the chamber and strike against theopposite side of said partition, and discharge conduits each" having a mouth within a chamber for conducting air and the lighter materials from the opposite side of the respective partitions through an opening in the partition near the delivery conduit and leadin out of one separator to the delivery con uit of the next separator to conduct the air and lighter materials from one chamber into the chamber of the next separator.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this s ecification.

A BERT H. STEBBINS. 

